⚽️ Childers, Hansen Sign Professional Contracts Overseas

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Former Kansas Soccer midfielder Rylan Childers and defender Kaela Hansen have signed contracts with clubs in Europe. Childers has signed an 18-month contract with Odense Boldklub Q in Denmark and Hansen signed a deal for the 2024 season with an option for 2025 with Kuopion Palloseura in Finland.

Childers, who played at KU for three seasons from 2020-22, was a member of the Kansas City Current in 2023 after being selected in the 2023 NWSL Draft by the Current with the No. 42 overall pick.

A native of Grain Valley, Missouri, Childers scored 14 goals and had 11 assists in her Kansas career. She started in all 52 games and was a captain the last two seasons, as voted on by her teammates. Childers led the Jayhawks with six assists and was second on the team with seven goals in 2022. She logged over 4,000 minutes in her three-year career at Kansas.

Childers was named a Second-Team Academic All-American by College Sport Communicators in December 2022 for her combined work on the field and in the classroom. She was also selected to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team in 2021 and 2022.

Hansen played for ŽFK Spartak Subotica in Serbia in 2023, where she helped her team become league and cup champions. She started every game at KU from the start of the 2018 season to the end of the 2022 season, which totaled 98 consecutive matches. In 2022, Hansen became the program leader for career starts and minutes played.

The Vancouver, British Columbia, native was a member of the 2019 Big 12 Championship team and was also named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team all four years she was eligible.

This is the second professional contract for both Childers and Hansen.